Spirits · Trelawny
Hampden Distillery
A historic Trelawny estate making some of Jamaica's funkiest pot-still rum.
- Founded
- 1743
- Founded by
- Archibald Stirling (estate founder); Hussey family (owners since 2009)
- Based in
- Trelawny
Making it since
1743
Their story
Hampden Estate sits in Wakefield, in Jamaica's Trelawny Parish. It was founded in 1743 by Archibald Stirling, and sugar production started a decade later. In the 1800s owner George McFarquhar Lawson helped develop the high-ester methods the estate is known for today.
For most of its history Hampden sold unaged rum in bulk to blenders and brokers and had no label of its own. After a period of state ownership, Lawrence Hussey's family bought the estate in 2009 and began aging rum on site. With Italian partner Velier, Hampden released Rum Fire in 2010 and its first estate-branded aged rums in 2018.
How it's made
Molasses-based wash ferments for one to two weeks in open cedar vats with wild yeast, helped along by dunder and traditional muck pits. It is then distilled in copper double-retort pot stills, producing a range of marks that run from lighter styles up to the very high-ester DOK. Aged bottlings mature in Jamaica's heat.
Why we carry them
If you want to taste how wild Jamaican rum can get, start with Hampden. It is intense and fruity, and a little goes a long way in a daiquiri.
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